Duplicated
by Dragonll237
Summary: The RED team were hired to kill the BLU, but they never before questioned the eerie likeness between the mercs of each team. Until something happened that never happened before... the Pyro was fired. The new Pyro that was hired is left to figure out the clues the past Pyro left him. The mercs entire lives are revealed to be a lie. The Administrator has some explaining to do.
1. Chapter 1

**Duplicated**

Dragonll237

8/20/17

Team Fortress 2

( _This is my first TF2 fanfic and I really would like people's inspiration to write it. It is a new fanbase I am getting into and I am not entirely sure how to approach it, so this is what I came up with. PS:_ _I suck at accents . ~Dragon_ )

 **** **~~~1~~~**

"Alright, we're about at the RED base. It's just three more miles up the road. You are under strict contract and considering where we found you, it would be best not to break it. There are strict restrictions to befriending the enemy team of BLU and any connection other than on the battlefield will be punished. Now remember, this is the first time a person of the team has been replaced with a new recruit so don't be too offended if you are not welcomed instantly by your new teammates. The engineer might not be happy to replace his pyro, but you will make do. Do you have any questions before I drop you off?" Miss Pauling ran through the points she must have memorized for nights.

"No, Miss Pauling. Thank you," the man that sat next to the girl replied. He pulled the gas mask over his head, knowing that it would remain there for a very long time.

"I'm going to drop you off and I'll have to leave right away. The Administrator needs me to check everything off the check list before 3 a.m. and I am running late on time. The Scout will be waiting for you when we arrive. He'll introduce you to the rest of the team. Talk to the team about how things work in RED, I'm sure the Scout or the Medic would gladly explain the system to you."

The black car pulled up to the only fenced off area for seventy miles, a skinny man waiting impatiently at the open gate. As soon as the door opened, the skinny man in red ran up to the car and started blabbing on about something to Miss Pauling. He leaned against the car, asking about her day and if she had any free time. It was obvious to the new merc that the man was trying to hook up with the woman.

Miss Pauling calmly inhaled before replying to the skinny RED man, "No, Scout, I have a lot of work to do for the Administrator. I just came to drop off your new Pyro. Speaking of, let them get out of the car and introduce them to the team."

"Yeah, okay. So dat's a later den," the Scout responded before backing away so the Pyro could get out of the black car. "It was great seein' ya Miss Pauling."

"Berrr mrimph phawimph," the Pyro added as the car door closed and the black taxi sped away down the dusty desert road.

"So, hey der'. You're da new guy so, I'm da Scout. Nice ta meetcha," Scout held out his bandaged hand towards his new teammate who took it in a handshake. The mumbles that came through the mask made the Scout raise an eyebrow but shrugged it off by pulling the hand he still held towards the large wooden building that was the RED base. As soon as Scout burst through the doors to what seemed to be the lounge area, he yelled to the mercs there: "'Ey, guys! Da new Pyro's 'ere!"

A mixture of greeting came from the men sitting around on the chairs and couches. Soon Scout began chatting fluidly about each merc as Pyro tried to follow along with what the Scout was saying. Soon the Pyro got confused on what the Scout was talking about and noticed that the rest of the men in the room were ignoring the seeming young man. He noted that Scout was the youngest of the group and obviously full of energy the other men could not meet.

The Demoman approached the new Pyro and slurred, "'Ey, laddy. If ye need anythin', come ta me. If ye care fer a drink, I got plenty. De last Pyro didn't drink, but you'll be different, aye?"

Pyro didn't know how to reply to the last bit, but nodded to the Demo's offer. It seemed like the Demo was very accepting of having a new teammate, maybe because he did not get along well with the previous one? Pyro made a mental note to ask about that when he became comfortable with his teammates.

"Hallo there mein friend, I am zuper excited to get vorking on you. I mean, vith you. Yes, having a new slate in ze team vill do us all good. Vhat do you zink, Heavy?" a german accent rang through Pyro's mask from what he believed was addressed as Medic from the Scout.

"Maybe, doktor. I am not sure. This Pyro is a much leettler man," the large russian accent man boomed, moving a chess piece across the board in front of him after staring at the Pyro intently.

"As long as he is a true American!" a man screamed from digging in the mini fridge in the room. He brought a piece of cheese out and shoveled it into his mouth.

"Wee akewawee," Pyro began but Scout's hand shot up to his mask before he could continue.

"Yeah, silly Pyro. Of course they're American. We all are, right guys?" Scout laughed nervously. Something about the fit guy with a helmet bowl on his head made the team frightened about not originating from America. Pyro didn't want to correct Scout if the guy was scared for a reason.

The Soldier man that seemed much more intimidating than the rest of the team approached. He slapped Pyro's back and cheered, "Good on ya, Soldier! Welcome to the team! If you ever find some hippies, invite me over! We can beat the sh*t outta them together!"

Pyro laughed nervously as the Soldier walked away, his screams of America disappearing down the hallways. The man looked back to his teammates to find that Medic moved back to sit with the Heavy to continue playing chess. The Demo was laying on a couch again like he was before the Pyro entered, beer bottle in hand containing suspicious liquid that spilled down the tanned man's neck. The Scout was curiously quiet when Pyro noticed the young man was nowhere in the room.

The man mumbled, "Ba phak? Werrr phkawt bo?"

"Peek-a-boo," a voice came from behind and the Pyro jumped around to find a man wearing a balaclava on his face. Self explanatory: the Spy. The man burst into laughter, snorting twice before trying to recover his composition. "Hello, I am ze spy. Try not to let yourself open on ze battlefield. Your job is to get rid of ze BLU spy, not get stabbed by 'im."

"Mow meeph maph imph mymb," Pyro replied.

"What're ya doin' to New Mumbles, Fancy Pants?" Scout called from across the room. That kid is fast, Pyro never saw him leave or return.

The spy instantly frown at the boy and slunk to lean on the wall, picking a cigarette from a case in his vest and popping it in his mouth. He moved the unlit cigarette on his lips and replied, "Giving zem pointers for the job, Scout. They need to be taught how to do zere job correctly. Even you had to go through a learning process. Not zat you passed much of the training."

Scout's fists clenched as he launched himself at the similarly sized man, "Why, you?! I'll show you how my training turned out! You wanna knuckle sandwich?! I'll give one to ya! And it'll hurt!"

Pyro didn't think that the team fighting would end well so he called, "Phkawt? Waa abaw ba phoor?"

"Oh, yea, right. Sorry, New Mumbles. Let's get outta 'ere. The spy's gonna stink it up with his nasty smoke of doom," Scout answered, grabbing Pyro's hand like earlier and pulling him down the halls of the base. The young man described each room they passed, most being "And dat's an empty supply closet…" to the point that Pyro wondered what this huge base was doing with so many empty supply closets. It looked big enough to have a hundred rooms, yet Pyro never imagined having a hundred rooms of empty space as closets. There was a training room, or gym as Scout called it, here and there.

Then the two made it to the bedrooms. They were spread out among the second floor. Pyro tried to memorize how they got there but he could swear that they went in so many different corridors that there was no way to memorize the way in one go. There had to be many ways to get there, but Scout had to take him on a tour of the whole place so it seemed much more confusing than it really was.

As they passed each room Scout pointed and explained, "Dat's my room. All I ask is don't come in my room at night. And don't steal from my mini-fridge! Dat's Soldier's room dere. I suggest not going in dere. He's a weird guy. Da next one's your room, but we'll come back to dat. Den dere's Demo's. He won't care if you go in. Just make sure not to touch his "Scrumpy", whatever dat is… Den dere's Heavy's room. He's kinda shy when it comes to personal space so I suggest givin' it to 'im. Next is Engie, but I'm not sure how often 'e actually sleeps 'ere like Medic. Dey usually sleep in deir areas. Engie in 'is garage 'n' Medic in 'is medi-bay. Oh, dat one's Medic's, by da way. Den dere's Sniper's but 'e never sleeps dere either. 'E's always in dat beat up van of 'is. And lastly, dere's Spy's room. I really don't suggest goin' in dere if you wanna live a long life. Either you'll die from seein' too much or Spy catches you and tortures you ta death. So, you know… Really not a good idea. Let's go back to your room."

Scout opened the door to Pyro's room and the two entered, standing in the empty room. The walls were uncomfortably white, worn down, and seemingly ten years old paneling. A "Home Sweet Home" frame hung above the cot with plain sheets, an oak nightstand at the head and a small chest at the foot. The carpet needed replaced, being stained with ash and who knows what. The scent of charcoal filtered through Pyro's mask, seeming the only thing about the room that made the fire loving freak feel better about the living quarters.

"Oh, dere is this rule that works like college where you gotta not paint da walls or plant nails in da walls but I did dat and I was never told otherwise, so you can make yourself at home. So, ah, I guess I'll leave you 'ere den. If ya need somethin', I'm gonna be in my room for a little while. Dinner's at 6:30, we trade off cooks each night so don't miss Heavy's day. He gets weird if you do. Oh, dat's tonight, by da way, so yea. See ya," Scout dismissed himself. Pyro shook his head at how much the boy talked as he closed the door behind him.

Pyro tugged at his mask, noting at how it clung to his throat when he sweat. He considered that he was safe in his room; however, he remembered the other members set up rules and he had not set those rules yet so to be safe he will have to wear his suit for at least a week before he can feel better about his teammates to trust them.

He looked over the room and sighed at how bland and boring the room was. The walls looked like they were not painted before he came, so he guessed the past Pyro never painted the room from the original. The few singes on the walls pointed that it was burnt multiple times without getting much care aside from a dose of fire extinguisher. Thinking of, he noticed a personal fire extinguisher on the wall next to the door, under the light switch. He flicked the switch to find the room light with a very poor source. Finding the bulb, he noticed the light was probably the original as well.

" _Didn't the past Pyro ever sleep here?_ " Pyro questioned himself, thinking to save the question for his teammates when he got to know them better. Asking about the person he was replacing was probably a sore spot for the team as Miss Pauling had said he was the first replacement the team had.

The man walked over and sat on the cot. It was used, but felt soft enough until he got a replacement for it. He knew he needed to do a lot of work on the room before he could call it his home. He lifted his glove away to see his watch: 3:48. Plenty of time to wander around the base and get lost to find where the dining room was.

With that, he took to his feet and turned off the light as he left his room. Pyro passed Scout's room, wondering if he should have told the boy that he left but decided that he didn't need to bother the Scout. He was only wandering the halls, it wasn't like he was going to try and find someone in specific. The best way to learn was from experience, right? So maybe he'll find his own way to someplace and it'll be easier remembered that way instead of follow the leader.

So he wandered into the medical bay, curiously looking through the circular windows on the double doors. There was a lot of machinery and jars of liquids on shelves. Seemed normal enough, even though Pyro had never seen some of the equipment in there. He just figured that the technology was super improved due to having a mechanical genius like the Engineer in the team.

"Snooping around, are we Pyro?" that voice rang from behind like it had before. Pyro was growing to understand why it was a Pyro's job in killing the enemy spy. The RED Spy was already annoying Pyro. "I wouldn't suggest going in zere, unless you want to be tested on that is. Medic is quite protective of his experiments and experimental equipment."

"Mow waa hudda waakimph," Pyro replied, deciding that it was wise to retreat back into the hallways. The Spy followed him and he annoyedly asked, "May mrr hoo phowowimph mee?"

"To make sure you don't get into anything you shouldn't. Wouldn't want an angry Medic or Engineer killing you on your first day. You have a lot to learn about ze base, after all," Spy replied.

"Mow hud pumpherr bo bee om mee omph," Pyro insisted, much preferring being alone than with the company of the spy.

"If you insist, but don't go messing with ze Engineer. He 'as been acting very strange zince ze last Pyro," Spy warned before disappearing in front of Pyro's mask.

After wondering what kind of magic caused the spy to seemingly vaporize out of sight, he continued to wander the halls. Finding his way to the living area he was in with the group of mercs before. Heavy was intensely trying to plan a next move while Medic waited patiently for his opponent. Demoman had moved from the couch, being gone from the room with nothing but an empty bottle as proof he was there before. Spy was lounging in the Laz-y-boy and Pyro scratched his head comically while he wondered how the Spy got there so fast.

Medic greeted, "Hallo, herr Pyro. You seem a little lost. Are you getting around okay?"

Pyro nodded, "M-humm" as he looked over the german's shoulder to see the game. It looked like Heavy was losing by the amount of chess pieces on the board but he still had a shot at checkmate with his Queen. Perhaps he did not realize that his Queen could easily live while getting closer to Medic's king. Pyro pointed a finger at the Knight chess piece of Medics then at Heavy's Queen. Realization dawned on Heavy's face as he moved his piece to kill the horse head. Medic sulked and shooed Pyro away making the man giggle at their reaction to his strategy suggestion.

"Yo, you guys seen Pyro around…? Oh, dere you are. I was wonderin' where you'd gone," Scout announced as he came strolling into the room. "I was searchin' around prayin' ta God dat you didn't find Engie's garage. He prolly woundn'tta liked ya wanderin' around his dingies."

"Berr mmah?" Pyro asked, hoping that they were okay to answer the question. They seemed to be the ones not too affected by the Pyro replacement. Aside from Heavy, but he seemed like he could handle a question about his past teammate. Or, Pyro hoped so.

"Vell, ze Engineer is real picky about his contraptions. As am I. Ve don't like people touching our things when they should not be," Medic answered.

"Engineer considered Pyro as his best friend. 'E's takin' the loss the most," Scout added.

"We don't know how he will react with you replacing his dear friend," Spy finished.

Heavy declared with a huge grin, "Checkmate, doktor."

Medic gasped and puffed, "No fair! Ze Pyro gave you a vinning move!"

Scout uncomfortably shifted as the room fell into a strange silence that appeared to Pyro did not happen very often. The skinny guy broke the silence, "Hey'a Heavy? What's for dinner tonight?"

The russian bear looked up from being smug with the game and declared that it was to be a surprise for the Pyro's first day at the RED base. He announced that he would begin as soon as Medic gave up the game. The Medic huffed at the statement and returned a venomous reply that he was not out yet. It was then that a tall man entered the room with a cowboy hat and aviators over his eyes.

"So this is the new Pyro. Nice to meet ya, mate. I'm the Sniper," the tall man raised his skinny arm out in front of him and Pyro took it.

"What brings ya in early, Snipes?" Scout asked the man.

"Was curious 'bout the new teammate. 'E's smaller than the last one, but we'll have to see how he performs on the battlefield. I'm sure he'll be quite the foe for that BLU Spy," the man with a familiar accent said to Scout then turned back to Pyro. "You got weapons yet, mate?"

Pyro shrugged his shoulders, not knowing anything about the weapon system as Miss Pauling did not have enough time to explain. She was on the phone most of the ride and he was curious as how she had okay reception in the middle of the deserty-nowhere. The girl seemed over-worked but by the way she was humming as she made the list of things to do even longer, Pyro guessed that she loved her job nonetheless. Though it would have been better if he had an actual conversation about the job she was bringing him to versus just sitting there next to him busy as a bee while he stared out the window bored as could be.

Sniper informed, "Well, ya start out with the basics then as you get paychecks from the Administrator you can buy yourself anything you want from Mann Co.. Mann Co. sells any merc's desires. And Spy can get a hold of anything you need that Mann Co. doesn't have. If you want, just ask. Right, mate?"

"Oi," Spy nodded from under his newspaper of Paris. So the Spy was french, go figure.

"What?! NOOO!" Heavy burst, flipping the small game table in front of him and over Medic who sat snickering. It appeared that Medic won the game. The table crashed against another, shattering them both to splinters and scattering their contents around the room.

"Merde," Spy sighed as a vase crashed and he folded up his paper to look at the Heavy with distaste. "That vase was seven hundred pounds. I should hope zat you are paying for the damage you caused."

"I should go prepare the dinner now," Heavy grumbled as he attempted to pick up the splintered wood and rested it against the wall.

"Mowm howmp," Pyro said, getting down onto the floor to pick up shards of glass.

"Thank you, Pyro," Heavy replied grateful, leaving to go make the special dinner he said he would make that night. Medic complained to Heavy about leaving Pyro to clean up his mess but Pyro just hummed and did the job uncaring. Medic decided to join the Pyro, taking charge of picking the glass shards out of the ragged carpet that was worse for wear.

Spy decided to get up and grab a garbage bag for the two to throw away the broken bits of vase, table, and anything else they found that was far overdue to put into the trash. The fruits that were inside the vase were carried by Scout into the kitchen as he set them in a new bag to be washed or possibly thrown away from their tumble onto the filthy ground. The Medic grabbed a vacuum from one of the many many closets and vacuumed the invisible shards he missed. It came to Pyro that Medic did not want anyone to step on a shard because he would have to deal with that person when they came to him with a bleeding foot.


	2. Chapter 2

(During this chapter I realized that it would be much easier on the readers and myself if I allowed Pyro to speak coherent words since the team generally understand what he says anyway; therefore, Pyro will be speaking in italics. I can not promise any times for next updates, but I can say that any review (or favorite/follow, those are always super awesome too) would probably make the process go faster. So thanks for the words of advice you marvelous people. Alright, now that I got the AN out of the way, on with what you came here for!)

 **~~~2~~~**

It was not long before Heavy called that dinner was soon ready and the group in the lounge gathered in the dining room. The large man served nine plates, a great big smile on his face for some reason Pyro did not know. The russian man was humming something in his mother tongue as the mercenaries of RED gathered to eat. Each merc sat in a seat instantly, Pyro standing back as he guessed that they were sitting in their normal spots. Seven of the nine mercs were seated when Pyro went to grab one of the two empty seats next to each other. Scout shook his head at him so he sat in the opposite one, guessing the one he was going to sit in belonged to the single merc he did not meet yet.

The large table looked small as the eight men sat around it, food piled in front of them. Heavy sat at the left end with medic to his right. On the other side of Medic sat Scout, Spy, and Sniper. The two empty seats were on the left side of Heavy and Pyro sat next to Soldier as to keep the one next to heavy for the Engineer. And lastly, Soldier sat next to Demo.

The plates held large chunks of meat covered in sloppy bbq sauce. The sweet scent covered the room, mixing with the buttered corn and hot soup. Pyro looked uncomfortable as he wandered how he would eat the delectable food. Scout seemed to see Pyro's problem and got up to retrieve a straw, handing it to the gas masked teammate with a bright smile then sitting back down. A rush of "You're welcome"s came from the Scout and the table looked around at each other weirdly.

"Where'd Engie run off to?" Demoman questioned, playing with a fork and knife in his hands.

"Let him come at his own time," Medic suggested. "Now, let us eat. Welcome to ze team, herr Pyro."

"Welcome, Pyro," went around the table before the group began to devour into the meal Heavy provided them. They spread a "This is good, Heavy" as the team enjoyed the meal. Meanwhile, Pyro watched his new team mates carefully to note their details.

Heavy was a giant guy, with a bald head and a shadowed shave. He ate with an oddly graceful way for such a large and strong man. Medic was a much more handsome figure, masculine jaw and wild hair somehow tamed. Then there was Scout, shoveling food into his mouth like he was never taught any educate. He was the obvious youngest member with a clean shave, and untamed hair of a teen. Though something about Scout told him that the kid was a lot stronger than his tiny physic showed him. Next was Spy, who acted the exact opposite the Scout did with delicate elegance as he ate. His balaclava only revealing his similar jaw line to Scout's and a shadowed shave. Then was Sniper with his leather hat, - ( _An akubra, so I have been told ;) Thank you_ _Chompking55_.) - folded up the left side and orange aviators hiding his shadow shaved face.

Pyro looked around his side of the table to note the Demoman's tanned skin and clean shave. He and the Soldier ate similarly with much gusto and haste. But the Soldier intimidated Pyro with his helmet on at all times and his ripped muscles under his uniform. The man only ever screamed and usually of America.

"You okay der Pyro?" Scout asked, before shoving another forkful in his mouth.

"Haa," Pyro responded, looking down at his food realizing that he should eat and show Heavy respect for making the group dinner.

So the man stuck the straw in his hand into the soup, filtering the straw through the vents of his mask, and took a sip. It was warm and full of vegetables and meat chunks. Pyro slurped it up as the soup was extremely tasty and it slid up the straw. The rest of the men at the table were mostly finished with their meal by the time Pyro realized that he would not be able to eat the rest of the meal on his plate. He could try to send corn up the straw but that could lead to choking and Pyro most certainly did not want to choke.

Then a device clattered onto the table, making all the mercenaries look up at I the sudden sound. There stood a short guy wearing an orange construction helmet and gloves. He was the last merc for the Pyro to meet. Pyro nervously took the straw out of his vents and placed it in his empty soup bowl. The team greeted the man and Pyro choked out a 'herro'.

"That there contraption's fer you, son," the Engineer said, sitting down in his chair. "Sorry I was late, fellas. Thank you for the meal, Heavy."

"Da," Heavy replied.

Pyro tipped his head to the side in question of the gadget the Engineer set in between them. The man gave a slight smirk realizing the Pyro's confusion. He picked up the device, aimed the nozzle at his food and zapped it. After demonstrating, he handed the device to the Pyro. The food was transferred straight into the stomach of the wielder.

Pyro was amazed at the technology the Engineer shared with him and gave the man a sincere, "Phaa oo, eemineerr."

The man assured, "No problem."

"Are you, err, feeling alright, herr Engie?" Medic asked, finishing the last of his meal.

"I'm fine," the man replied a little too fast, poking his fork into the meat on his plate. The corn was zapped away previously, but the rest of his meal remained.

"Well, ah, how is yer first day 'ere, Pyro?" Scout asked as the coming silence made the young man flinch.

Pyro shrugged his shoulders and replied honestly, " _So far, I have nothing to complain about. I understand your hesitance towards me but I believe we are all at a good start. I just hope I can prove myself towards you all on the battlefield._ "

Soldier chanted, "Spoken like a true American warrior!"

The Engineer corrected, "You don't understand yet, boy."

Pyro thought hard on the short man's words. He was right about Pyro not understanding why he was there; and Pyro certainly planned on finding out why. The fire lover responded, " _I will prove myself to you. Then one day, you will tell me. I swear it._ "

"Not for a long time," the man promised.

Tension built at the table and Scout made the excuse that he needed to wash the dishes to get up. The rest of the mercs followed suit with cleaning up and leaving the table. Soon, only Pyro, Spy, and Engineer remained.

The man in the mask got up from the table and looked towards the suited man and asked, " _Can you go over the some things with me? I would like to know a basic idea of the field before going and getting myself murdered from inexperience._ "

"You will get used to that, but yes. I believe I can assist with your basic beginner training," Spy answered, getting up from his seat himself, pulling out his cigarette case. "Engineer, do you mind if I explain the Resurrection System with our new friend?"

The helmet man nodded his head in approval before adding to not touch anything as the two left the dining room. Pyro looked over his shoulder as he walked away to watch the Engineer stuff the eating device in his belt pocket and slouch in his chair. The man gave off a depressed sigh as Pyro and Spy disappeared out of the Engineer's range. The fire lover felt sorry for the man and sad that he made his fellow team mate upset in some way.

Spy led the new recruit to the Respawn Center in the base located across from the Engineer's garage and down the hall from the Medibay. The room had tons of machines and technology littered around with nine chambers lined up along a sidewall and a control panel by the end of it. Lights flickered on as the two moved inside the room; as it was motion detection.

"This is the Resurrection System or Respawn. Before your first battle you will have to be scanned in your chamber to be included into the system. Each battle day, a field is selected by the Administrator and these tubes transport us into the 'Spawn Room' of the field. The battle commences until there is a declared winner of the day. Sometimes that can last three hours and other times can be twenty. These battles can go on for so long thanks to this machinery built by the first Engineer hired by the Administrator. We are immortal as long as we are registered into this System," the frenchman explained with his now lit cigarette in his mouth.

" _Immortality is impossible to achieve. Humans were made mortals. I'm not understanding,_ " Pyro responded confused as he studied the control panel.

"Well, with this device we are revived in ten minutes. Should we be dead for ten minutes then alive again mean that we are immortal, I suppose that is up for debate since it is a machine doing the work and we are rendered dead during those ten minutes. Although, to us it is what makes up who we are. Immortal mercenaries fighting a never-ending battle," Spy answered. "You will understand on your first day on the field."

Pyro nodded, knowing that knowledge and understanding come with time and experience. The control panel had no labeling, making it impossible to know what did what. That was for the Engineer to know and no one else. It became clear to Pyro that either one of two things were true. The Engineer wanted to make sure no one else could understand his work, or the team of mercenaries wanted to keep secrets to themselves.

The man in the mask itched at his forehead and announced to the Spy, " _This technology is like nothing I have ever seen before. I suppose I can wait for a demonstration._ "

Spy simply nodded then directed the Pyro out of the room. The two walked in silence down the long halls towards a room Pyro had not yet seen. Pyro studied the man next to him more to find he carried himself very proudly. Back straight and head held high. Under his balaclava, his face was flat and stern.

The man said suddenly, "You like what you see, non?" An eyebrow raised in question as his head tilted sideways away from the Pyro.

Pyro replied, " _No, you are too uptight._ "

Spy retorted, "And you are too curious, my friend. The difference is, being uptight protects a person from the unknown while being curious gets you wrapped into it."

" _Observing everything around you is not a bad thing, in any situation. If anything, from what I understand, my job is important for spotting the odd thing out. I need to hunt down the enemy version of you,_ " Pyro snapped.

"That is not the only thing you need to do on the battlefield. There are many ways that curiosity can lead to poor choices," Spy recovered, flicking his cigarette in a disliking way.

The two entered the new room Spy lead them to. It was about the size of most training gym areas, but seemed much smaller with the mass amounts of weaponry. Nine areas separated by flimsy movable walls defining each merc their segment by their class symbol hanging from the main wall. Each segment was littered with weapons except Pyro's having only a few on the desk. Others had their weapons either hanging on display or hidden in cases under the desk.

Heavy was in his section, cleaning one of his many miniguns in his much larger area. The gun he cleaned seemed very intriguing to the Pyro having a dragon head at the tip of the barrel. Spy left Pyro's side to clean his own weapons. Heavy noticed the Pyro over him and greeted the man kindly.

The Heavy motioned Pyro to come closer and inspected his weapon saying, "Dis is a beautiful weapon. You may like it, Pyro. It sets fire to any BLU dat gets too close. It's called the Hou-Long Heater. My favorite is Sasha, but she is not here. I keep her in my room and polish her there."

Pyro replied, " _That is neat. Does everyone have polish?"_

"Da, and parts or anything you may need to keep weapons in good condition," the russian bear replied.

The fire lover nodded in thanks and went over to his segment in the room to find three weapons laying on his desk. A basic flame thrower, his primary weapon. The design was based for function and not looks for sure. The white tank connected loosely to the nozzle where a flame would rest waiting for a blast of gas to ignite. There was a simple shot gun, his secondary. Nothing special about the shotgun as it was bland as anything. Lastly, a fire axe for his mele. Surprisingly the axe was the best looking of all of them being shiny and bright red and white.

So, the Pyro sat down in the swivel chair, took up some parts, tools, and cleaner, and got to work on his new weapons. It was late into the night by the time Pyro finished up. During that time, many of the men visited without a word and grabbed a weapon or two to inspect before exiting the room again. Spy disappeared without Pyro's notice and Heavy left with a simple nod. The Scout came by and looked over Pyro's shoulder to make multiple comments about the way Pyro was doing certain things. He then got bored of patronizing his new teammate and left him alone to his work.

The clock above the entrance/exit read 11:14 P.M. and Pyro stretched out of his seat. He shrugged off the fact that he spent a little too much time cleaning his weapons and left the room. Wandering the halls in the poor light of midnight was much more difficult with trying to find how to maneuver back to the bedrooms. It didn't take long to find his room and pass out on the mattress without a care that he was still in his suit.

It was a long day for the new RED Pyro. The first day of a new job. Just think that the next would be the first day on the field. Now that would be a wild day…


	3. Chapter 3

(AN: Thanks to writingisrelaxing I have decided to post the chapter early without constant editing and review, so pardon the possible mistakes. On the bright side, this chapter is now posted and ready for review! I am not advanced in writing fight scenes so pardon my lack of explaining in detail how someone blows someone else up :P )

 **~~~3~~~**

 _Bang bang bang_. Soldier's voice rang out from behind Pyro's door, "Rise-'n'-shine! It's Borneo today! Meet in the kitchen at 0600!"

Pyro groaned as he rose from his bed. He did not know what time it was except that it was time to get up. Pyro made sure to lock his room door then his bathroom door before deciding that he was safe to take a shower. Thankfully there was a washing machine in the bath hall so he could wash his suit before meeting the team. For Pyro's first field day, he wanted to make a good impression of himself towards his teammates, and his enemy.

Pyro made his way down the halls to the kitchen to find Soldier the only one up at such an early hour. For a second he was confused but then he realized that the Soldier was a strict military man and called everyone awake at unnecessary times. Sighing at the fact that he got ready much before he needed to, he searched the fridge for breakfast. Soldier happily handed Pyro a hot mug of black coffee and a straw as he came out of the fridge with an apple in his glove. Gratefully, Pyro took the mug and, with the straw stuffed up his vents, sipped the hot liquid that would help the man stay awake after few hours of sleep.

Slowly the other team members filtered into the room, grabbing their breakfast and coffee. Meanwhile, Pyro had asked the Soldier to explain their first mission to him. The American yelled out battle strategies and layouts of the area. The first battle-ground was going to be Borneo; a payload arena where one team had to either push the cart to the finish or defend the cart before it reaches the end. All that Pyro could understand about the layout of the arena was that Borneo is open in the middle so dangerous when the BLU Sniper is standing in a good position.

"Ya'll ready?" Engineer questioned the team before getting nodded heads and answers of 'Yes'. The group then migrated to the respawn room and entered their respective tubes. Engineer instructed Pyro to have his finger pricked by the machine before entering his tube. The short man typed away at the blank buttons and knobs before leaving the console and joining the rest in his tube.

The machinery hummed and buzzed with life as it processed what Engineer told it to do. Each tube locked closed before a metal ring came down shining bright lasers on the team. When the lasers retreated back to the top, the tubes shone bright with white light. As if instantaneously transported, the next thing Pyro saw was a different room he had never seen before. They were on Borneo, in the BLU spawn room.

" _Why are we in a BLU room?_ " Pyro mumbled to Scout.

"We're pushin' da cart today. We switch sides because the fields are unique in a way an' stuff. It's just easier dis way," Scout answered.

"Here is ze plan for today," Spy announced to the team as they crowded in the middle of the spawn room, readying their weapons. "Heavy and Medic storm center and get on the cart. Zere is going to be a sentry either on the left hill or right plateau. Medic will uber Heavy and try to take out the sentry. Meanwhile I should have backstabbed their Engineer and sapped their Dispenser and Teleporters. Sniper, take out their Sniper first. Borneo has a lot of sightlines and we need to be safe from a head-shot first and foremost. Soldier, Demo; you both fly over the enemy and take out their Heavy and Medic. It would not go well if we allowed them to Uber against us when our Uber runs out. Scout, you go with Pyro on flank. Make sure you stop anyone that tries to take the high-ground against us. That bridge is known for people to drop down on the cart. After ze first capture is taken, the BLU team will surely try to set up a nest at the choke point. I will create as big a problem as I can. Should everything go smoothly, this should be an easy win."

Suddenly a voice boomed through the speakers, " _ **Mission begins in ten seconds! 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Begin!**_ "

The team readied their weapons. Scout flung his baseball bat up in the air and juggled a ball in his left hand. Soldier loaded rockets into his black box of a launcher. Pyro tested his flame thrower to be rewarded of fire spreading out in front of him. Demo took one last swig of his bottle before grabbing one of his launchers. Heavy clutched at his sandwich before revving up his minigun. Engineer packed up a toolbox as he removed his right yellow glove to reveal a mechanical hand. Medic got his medigun ready to Uber charge. Sniper tossed his jar of yellow… was that piss?... as he held on to his large safari knife. Lastly, Spy disguised himself as the BLU Pyro and flipped his knife repeatedly.

Pyro looked around curiously as the gates to the spawn did not open. He stood patiently with the rest of the team to discover that the BLU team was getting a head start to set up their defense. As soon as the gates were opened, Pyro ran out the right side with Spy cloaking behind him. As soon as he walked around the corner, the BLU sentry spotted him and shot him full of bullets. Pyro screamed as he met respawn for the first time.

"Wait for the saps first next time, Private!" Soldier shouted as Pyro teleported back into the Borneo BLU spawn.

Medic Ubered Heavy as Spy took care of the enemy Engineer and Pyro. The Sentry was taken down, along with the rest of the BLU Engineer's equipment. With this successful first push, the rest of the team rolled out of spawn. Scout and Engineer went right side, Soldier, Demo, and Sniper went center, leaving Pyro to head left side alone.

Pyro climbed the incline up to the bridge area where Spy had spoken about earlier. At the top, he spotted the enemy Scout approaching him from the other side of the wood bridge. The BLU Scout had nowhere to go as Pyro spread his flames across the bridge. That is, until a shiny blue rocket landed next to Pyro, blowing him into thousands of red pieces.

By the time Pyro respawned, the team had already pushed the cart up passed the bridge. Pyro wondered where his team had gone when the Medic came to his side. It was strange how the Medic was alone and not with Heavy. Instantly Pyro looked for his teammates, but it was too late. Pain then darkness greeted Pyro before the bright lights of respawn.

"Could ya do somethin' 'bout that Spah?!" Engineer grunted as he, along with Heavy, Medic, and Demo, walked out of spawn.

So Pyro went off after them, more cautious this time. Spys were dangerous that stole their victim's looks in order to trick their comrades. Pyro would not let Spy get away with that trick again. He Spy-checked his team mates every so often after that, just to be sure.

Engineer was having the most problems with the Spy. His Teleporters and Dispensers went down the second he got them up and functional. Pyro gravitated towards the texan in order to try and help by flaming around to keep the BLU Spy away. When the Engineer gave Pyro a nod that he was alright on his own again, Pyro walked up the hill towards the cart at the top… Before he was stopped by the BLU Sentry.

After he respawned, he went up left side in hopes of escaping the Sentry's view and still be able to help push the cart. It was obvious to Pyro that he was not a class made to take out the Sentries but to protect his team's. He held his shotgun in hand as he raced across the high-ground of left-side. Taking a few pot-shots at the enemy before ducking for cover. He was almost at the cart before he saw the enemy Sniper looking at him. He made a dash for the cart, hoping he could hide from the Sniper, but was shot down by the Sentry.

Out of respawn, he watched Sniper, Demo, and Heavy take down the Sentry together. Medic gave Pyro an over-heal before regrouping with Heavy on the cart. Engineer moved his tiny Sentry up into the building as Pyro followed him to help him place it. It surprised Pyro at how much traffic the building got. Enemy after enemy came charging in before falling flat on the floor after Pyro's flames and the Sentry centered on them. Scout came running in the building on fire, the BLU Pyro flaming behind him. The Pyro dropped as soon as the Sentry spotted the commotion.

"Help!" Scout shouted at Pyro, but he didn't know what to do. "Airblast me! I'm on fire! Ah!"

Pyro wondered what Scout meant before realizing that he wanted Pyro to airblast him. Confused, Pyro did as instructed to find that Scout was no longer on fire. The younger man gave a thanks, grabbed the health from the Dispenser that Engineer moved up, and took off sprinting back where he came from.

Engineer set down the Teleport exit before telling Pyro, "Gotta move that gear up!"

The masked man nodded and exited the building as Scout had done to be spotted by the enemy Soldier. Rockets fired towards him. Pyro readied his flamethrower and airblast at the rockets back towards the sender. A smile formed behind the black flame-retardant mask when the reflected rockets blew the BLU Soldier to bits.

"Nice work," Engineer praised as he set down his Sentry into a more aggressive spot.

Engineer disappeared back into the building and Pyro watched as the mini-Sentry shot at BLU after BLU. It was such a cute little gun. Pyro realized he was standing idly long enough and looked behind him, checking for the BLU Spy. The man was stopped dead in his tracks when a blue dot on the wall approached his head. It was but a few seconds later that Pyro landed back in respawn.

Back towards the front, Pyro found Medic being abandoned by Soldier as he rocket jumped away. After a quick flame around, Pyro determined they were safe from the Spy. The medical man followed Pyro as he dropped down to the lower level under the cart bridge. The BLU Scout came running towards them, shooting his Back Scatter before screaming "Fire!". The Scout was enough of a distraction for the BLU Spy to stab Medic.

" _Medic_!" Pyro cried before chasing the sneaky devil.

Flames engulfed the BLU and the Spy burned to death. Pyro strolled back to the team, muttering to himself how cheeky the Spy was. Regrouping, the RED team were able to cap the next payload point. The payload was pushed through the tunnel to be met with another open area. Pyro ran ahead with Scout to be mowed down by the shouting BLU Heavy.

Pyro felt useless against the large beast of a man, but easily shoot off the feeling as he returned to the battlefield from the spawn room. Engineer lifted up his packed sentry gun and Pyro followed him carefully to allow him to set it up safely. As the sentry was built back up, Pyro walked away to follow Demoman into the last building.

"Aye, stand back, lad!" Demoman yelled as he pulled out his sticky bomb launcher and shot at the BLU Engineer's nest. The nest blew to smithereens and the BLU team rushed into last.

Pyro gave the Demoman a thumbs up before running up the right-side ramp towards the enemy spawn. Up on the spawn deck, Pyro chased a Scout that came out of spawn down the right corridor. As the Scout burned to death, Pyro noticed a fuzz of BLU dissipate across the payload track. The masked man jumped across the map to chase the Spy he was sure was sneaking around.

The fire lover looked for a possible target the Spy would have been going after, finding Sniper sitting in the open of left side. Pyro pulled out his shotgun and fired in the dark to reveal a BLU outline of a Scout. The Spy cried out in pain before running away again. Pyro flamed around but couldn't seem to find where the BLU went.

"Stupid, bloody, Spys," Sniper mumbled before landing a headshot and reloading his gun.

With that, Pyro decided that the Spy went off to find someone else to pick on and went off to rejoin the battlefront. He ran into the right side of last to flame the BLU Demoman. The BLU team rushed away from him as they jump down to the main level. A sentry beeped to attention and Pyro was shot full of ammunition. Back into the respawn he went.

Before Pyro could get back to the front, the Administrator's voice rasped, " **Victory!** "

The RED's weapons sparkled with power as the team conquered the enemy, sending them to respawn. Mumbles of frustration from the team rang out in the spawn room of the RED base. They had not lost, but their win was quite frustrating. The team died three times too many for their liking.

"We shall win again," Spy announced, "and zis time, we will not let ze BLUs get even a taste of success."

Nods filled the room and Pyro watched his team. He thought the day went alright, considering he was a new merc and all. Spotted flaws he needed to work on already. He was ready to prove his team and the enemy that he was ready for the job.

Demoman slurred, "Yer doin' gud lad."

Pyro thanked the drunk before heading off to his room to shower, just like the rest of his team. What a day it has been, for Pyro? And to think, it is not over yet…


	4. Chapter 4

(AN: I'm sorry for such a long delay. I was struggling with writers block and time management but I was on vacation for two weeks in Alaska,USA and Yukon,CA and while on my journey I finally had the time and inspiration I needed to write again. Next chapter will start to get a little different and exciting so hopefully I will be able to get it out sooner than this one took. Enjoy and tell me what you think! ~Dragon)

 **~~~4~~~**

When Pyro came out of his room, he found Soldier and Scout conversing in the halls. What he discovered made him frown. They were conversing about how much trouble the enemy was causing them because it was his first day. Soldier yelled that he was not American enough to handle a sentry.

Scout replied, "Yea, well. Dem sentries are pretty tough. I mean, 'e's never faced one before. Dough 'e shouldda leart after da first two times."

"Aye, lay off 'im. Pyro will work on it. It's da first day, ye know? Give 'em time," Demo defended as he came out of his room. "Oi, speak of the devil. Joining us fer sum chips 'n' drinks?"

Pyro acted to have just came from his room and answered, " _I think I will just join you guys for dinner._ "

Demo smiled, "Aight, mate. See ya then."

The darker man pulled the two teammates down the halls with his arms around their shoulders. Pyro sighed, turning his head at the sound of another door closing. It was Medic, and he was heading in the direction of his laboratory. The fire-retardent suited man followed the doctor down the halls, seeking the medical man's company.

"Iz zere somezing wrong, Herr Pyro? Vhy not join ze ozers?" Medic asked, noticing the strange presence of Pyro. When the masked teammate gave no response the Medic pondered to himself and commented: "You are being very shy. Iz zere any problems zat I should be vorried about? Und I don't just ask az a doctor."

" _Don't worry about me, Medic. I am healthy. Just don't care for socializing_ ," Pyro replied as he shuffled along down the halls.

"Hm," Medic agreed, understanding that Pyro was overwhelmed with him still being new to the team. "Vell, how vas your first day out on ze field?"

Pyro shrugs, unable to judge his performance due to being new and the insulting words passed around the team. He was not sure how he was supposed to act or what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to be. All things he is able to learn with time, but learning meant rinse and repeating and he is not a huge fan of perfecting things.

Medic put a reassuring hand on Pyro's shoulder and said, "Don't vorry too much about your performance for now. You vill learn, and be stupendous at killing ze BLU Spy in no time. Vat ze ozers say does not matter. Zey too had to go zrough ze zame zing. Zey mean no harm. Just take into account vat zey are frustrated about, und you can improve zere as you grow."

Pyro nodded in agreement. He should not get disheartened by a few words spread from his new teammates. Instead improve upon his weaknesses to prove to them that he was worthy of being a mercenary in RED.

By then, the two had walked all the way to the Medibay, and Medic held one of the double doors open welcoming his guest. The Pyro entered gratefully and looked around at the foreign technology. The Medic runs through his stock, taking mental notes on what viles or meds or chemicals he has and what he is short of. Hundreds of shelves lined with thousands of jars of powders and chemicals and organs and alcohol.

Medic mumbles as he walks through his mental checklist. Pyro is left speechless in awe before he could squeeze out a, " _Wow_."

"Impressive, ja? It's not everyzing a medical man of zience such as myself could wish for, vut it iz definitely stepping in ze right direction," Medic replied, continuing down the shelves of organs.

" _This isn't everything? It's gotta be close to the best Medibays in the world!_ " Pyro gasped.

"Perhaps one of, but certainly not ze best. I make do vith vat I have, und am grateful for it," the medical man searched deeper into a cabinet before giving a sound of achievement as he pulls a jar of an unknown substance off the shelf. He shook the jar and it radiated a lime green before he took it to a spot-light hovering around a patient chair. The jar shone yellow and the german jeered, "Ooh, fascinating. I found zis liquid out by a zewer und it appears to have zome interesting secrets. I am guessing it may be able to be used in my latest experiments."

Medic set the jar of mysterious liquid? next to a bunch if organized medical equipment on a counter by the chair. Pyro moved out of the way when Medic reached for a refrigerator. The masked man could not see much inside of the refrigerator, but he could guess it did not contain things that would be edible. An organ of some kind came out of the fridge before plopped onto a tray to be tested on. Pyro tilted his head in confusion, trying to follow what the Medic was doing.

As the Medic cut into the organ, he held a content face as though he would prefer to do nothing less for the next seven hours. His question took Pyro by surprise: "Zo, vat gave you ze interest in fire, mein friend?"

Pyro cleared his voice before speaking through the mask, " _Well, I suppose I was always fascinated as a child. I used to burn the trash out in the backyard. I had a job at the local fire department, but it never really satisfied me. I liked the fire better alive, than being smothered out by the rush of the water hose. I am very grateful for having a job where I can light the fire and work with it, versus against it._ "

Medic nodded and gently probed, "If you don't mind me asking, vut… Fire iz ze reazon you are here, nein? Vat happened to get you noticed by ze Administrator? Bitte, mein friend, zis is probably rather personal for you…"

" _It is, Medic. Im sorry,_ " Pyro responded, shaking his head and taking a step away from the doctor.

"Nein, I vas just curious iz all. Ve all have our own secrets und reazons for being here," Medic reassured kindly.

An awkward silence followed as Medic grabbed the suspicious jar from earlier and with a gloved hand, scooped up some of the Jell-O like substance and put it inside of the dissected organ. Medic proceeded to stitch up the organ that now contained the strange liquid.

"Az zoon az I am done vith zis, shall ve join ze ozers for dinner or vould you prefer to be alone?" the Medic suggested, receiving no answer. He added, with a slosh of the organ moving on the table, "Ze ozers mean no harm to you, really. Ve all are not az bad az ve seem. Just because I lost mein medical liscence dozn't mean I can't heal. It dozn't make me an bad perzon. Und ze ozers could zay zimilar zings about zemselves az vell."

" _You make a good point, I suppose. Let's go eat,_ " Pyro agreed, feeling much better.

"Vunderbar!" Medic cheered as he placed the finished organ back into the refrigerator, removing his bloody gloves and replacing them with clean ones from a dispenser on the wall.

As the two walked into the common area, they were greeted by a whirlwind of chaos. Poker chips were thrown across the room as Soldier and Demo faced off in an arm wrestle that involved a bit more than just their arms. Somehow the two managed to tangle themselves together with the arms locked together, legs wrapped around each other in awkward angles, and foreheads locked against each other. Somehow the Scout got involved as he appeared to be trapped awkwardly between the two men, turning his head towards the two approaching men.

"Hey der, Medic. Little help? Oh, 'ey New Mumbles," Scout greeted, waving his hand what little he could from between the Soldier's legs.

"Dummkopfs," Medic sighed as he shook his head in disappointment. "Vat vas it zis time?"

"Well, ah, you know… Da usual insults 'n' arm wrestle 'n' all dat… But ah, I can't feel my hand," Scout explained a little embarrassed at his predicament.

"Herr Pyro, if you please?" Medic motioned towards the Scout as he walked up to the stuck mercenaries. Pyro followed suit, getting behind the Scout in order to free him from his entanglement.

Scout came loose, flopping down onto the ground like a newborn horse. Pyro set him down and helped the young man back on his feet. As the Scout stood back properly, the Soldier and Demoman were being untwisted by the Medic. The two cried in pain as Medic nearly dislocated their joints in order to teach them a lesson. By their groans, Pyro would guess the lesson was learned; and if not for them, then certainly for him.

Soldier sneared at the Demoman, "I'll win next time, maggot! You won't beat me with those lady arms!"

"Oh yeah? I doubt it, ye arse lickin' piece a s***!" Demo retorted. Apparently they didn't learn anything at all.

"Why don't y'all just get along?" Engineer asked as he passed the room heading towards the kitchen area. Pyro followed him there, curious to the mysterious Engineer. "I'm makin' supper tonight. What do ya want before ah get started?"

" _You want some help?_ " Pyro offered, hoping being closer to the Engineer would encourage him to give Pyro his trust. Besides, Pyro didn't mind cooking as he enjoyed the wood stove of his home.

"Nah, you got to cook yer own in a few. This is mah duty," he replied, pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator.

Pyro didn't want to be pushed away just yet so he asked, " _What are you making?_ "

Engineer seemed to hesitate as he set his ingredients on the table. Pyro's eyes lit up at the sight of bacon. It seemed like what would be needed to make gravy. A very thick and delicious gravy at that. Pyro had made the gravy himself before in a class during school. He licked his lips in anticipation of the meal soon to be eaten.

"Somethin' ah haven't eaten in quite some time," he said as he pulled out a pot and pan. He was so short he had to stand on his tip-toes in order to be able to reach his fingertips around the kettles.

Before Engineer could say anything further, Pyro lit the stove to the correct temperature and pulled the ingredients into the correct order of preparation. With a huff, Engineer opened another cabinet and reaching up high to grab the cooking oil. As his fingertips reach the bottle, Pyro stretched from behind to retrieve it for the shorter man. Engineer shrunk back down in defeat and gave a gruff thanks.

" _You're welcome. I used to make this in class. It's my favorite American cuisine,_ " Pyro responded cheerfully.

Pyro was trying to be as nice as he could be, and he hoped his efforts were not in vain. There was something about the Engineer that intrigued the fire loving man. Something he hasn't seen in the short man yet. Of course, he has only been with the team for two days and the Engineer has given him the least ammount of time to spend with him off field.

Well, that's not true. Pyro has not even talked to Soldier or Demoman or Sniper or Heavy. Scout did all the talking and nothing was understood of him except for catching on at how much the kid needed the attention in his tons of energy attitude. He had a short interaction with the Engineer at last night's dinner, so Pyro actually had spent some time with the mysterious mechanic. Medic was very kind to Pyro so he would be the member Pyro knows the most of. Lastly was the Spy who is surprisingly more straight forward, compared to the rest of his team. The Spy might have just been easier to pick up on because of the Pyro's job discription.

Back to the Engineer, he took a breath and told Pyro, "Look here, son. I would apreciate yer help in tha kitchen, but ah don't think that it would be a good idea. Fer me, ah would rather just be left alone."

That was the second time Pyro saw emotion from the Engineer and he knew he should do as the Engineer requested. After nodding in understanding, he made his way to the door but paused in the doorway. Pyro knew the Engineer was hurting from his loss, and trying his best not to be angry at the new Pyro for replacing his close friend; but Pyro also knew that keeping those feelings inside never helps to get over the loss.

" _Engineer_ ," Pyro started and made sure he still had the man's attention, " _if you don't want to let yourself relax with the heavy weight on your shoulders, then it is fine that you do not wish to tell me why. However, you should at least try to let yourself relax and recover._ "

With the air heavy in silence, Pyro walks out of the doorway and into the hallway headed towards the common room again. Not long passed by the time dinner was called and the whole team sat around the table for their nightly meal. The rowdy crew calmed down as Engineer passed around plates of biscuits slathered with deliciously thick gravy and a large helping of green peas.

"Peas?! You've got to be kiddin' me, Engi! We just had corn last night!" Scout complained outraged at the vegetables he is being forced to eat.

"Oh please. Just eat your vegetables. You are a child and a pest," Spy rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Scout! I see bacon in this gravy! It is perfectly American!" Soldier shouted. "Well done, Soldier!"

The rest of the team followed with thanks to the Engineer for the food and began to eat. Engineer set the eating contraption back on the table next to Pyro who took the device out of kindness. Pyro would prefer to taste such delicious meal going down his throat, but zapping it into his stomach while sitting with everyone else at the dining table is more respectful of his team mates.

"Who's servin' thah bee-ah tonoight?" Sniper asked the crew from under his hat and glasses. "We moight not 'ave won a great win, but at least we won. Roight guys?"

"That was a horrible game, and you know it! We all were in respawn far more than we needed to! You maggots are all slacking off like girls!" Soldier declared.

"Leetle men acted like first day on feild so Pyro did not feel alone. At least, dat is what it feelt like," Heavy stated.

"At least ve von, ya?" Medic added.

Demoman nodded but before he could say something the Scout took over, "Yea, a real stupid win. I mean, dat BLU Engi got us way more dan 'e should've. I didn't even see Spy today! Oh, and don't get me stawted on deir backstabbing son of a b****! 'N' e'ery time deir Medic ubered we got destroyed 'cause Pyro wasn't dere ta stop 'em!"

Demo shouted out against Scout, "Ye call out Pyro fer dahin' too da sentree but ah least 'e 'as an excoose! 'E doosn't know the lan' 'n' yoo doo 'n' yoo still get kill't by the same sentree each time!"

"Blaimin' thah team ain't gettin' us bettah on thah field," Sniper pointed out, trying to find middle ground.

"Yeah, right. Easy for you to say, Snipes. Yer barely _**on**_ da field!" Scout rebutted.

Heavy sighed an: "Uh oh. Dees is not good."

Medic chimmed in angrily, "Enough in front of ze Pyro! 'E vas excellent for his first time on ze field. Und stop blaming each ozer for everyzing zat vent vrong! Yas ve vere not all performing at peak performance for ze match today, but it iz not ze end of ze vorld. Ve got ze Pyro back so ve do not have to vorry avout mizzing our extra skill. Now zat ve have him, ve can take back our vinning spree und finish zis var once und for all!"

Silence spread thick in the room. All nine members of the RED industries mercinary team sat awkwardly as they finished up their meal the Engineer prepared for them. Medic calmed his frustrated face to be more neutral as he took his last few bites of his meal. Scout sat with his arms crossed and a stern look saying he knew he was right and he is offended by the other's accusations. Spy was neutral and unreadable, as expected of such an uptight man with the title. Sniper was obviously upset by the conversation with a deeper frown than usual. Demo seemed to have given up as he sat back in his chair while taking a long gulp out of his whiskey bottle. Soldier was even more scary with his dark shadowed face in a tight frown of disappointment in the team. Pyro wasn't much for showing his emotions but his shrugged shoulders and head low to express his submission towards their angry bantering as he continued to study his fellow team mates in silence. Engineer seemed to have a lot on his mind with a stern jaw and gaze at his empty plate. Lastly, Heavy seemed the most innocent at the table with a look of: how can I make this situation better?

Finally, Engineer broke the silence with: "Ya know, fellas? Why don't we stop yellin' at each other and instead just tell each other what we want better of them. We all have our own systems, but with a new member of this team we are all off kilter. We have been in cease-fire for a week so it is no surprise that we might be a bit rusty. We need to re-learn how to get back into our usual rythem. Once we get our rythem, we'll be winnin' fer real."

A few grumbles of doubt, denial, and acceptence passed around the room. Medic nodded and spoke, "I sink zis is a great idea, Herr Engi. It just zeems az though ze ozer team vas not az affected by ze cease-fire az ve vere. Ve need to re-shawpen ze knives und vork vith our new friend, not against zem. Zose who refuse vill surely let us all down."

Only a few denials were heard after the Medic's second speach and the men decided to get up from the table and be dismissed to their own quarters for the night. Pyro had a lot going through his mind as he got up after handing the Engineer his gajit and headed towards his room for the night, not bothering to clean his weapons that night as he was exhausted from the very exhilarating day.


End file.
